New Zealand Christians outraged by poster of Mary and Joseph after sex

manicstreetpreacher: LMFAO

I have come across this hilarious article on The Daily Telegraph website regarding the poster below which was vandalised after being displayed at a church in Auckland, New Zealand:

The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: “Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow.”…

Within hours of the billboard being erected outside the Anglican church of St Matthew’s in the City, in central Auckland, it had been attacked by a man who clambered on to the roof of his car to smear brown paint over it.

As a result it was almost obliterated and the church, which describes itself as “progressive”, is seeking a replacement.

Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story “and that somehow this male God impregnated Mary”.

“What we’re trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about,” he said.

“We actually think God is about the power of love as shown in Jesus, which is something quite different than a literal man up in the sky.”…

St Matthew’s was inundated with angry phone calls and emails soon after the billboard appeared at a busy street corner on Thursday.

The poster also sparked a barrage of comments to radio stations and on internet websites.

Among leading critics was Lyndsay Freer, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, who said: “This is disrespectful and offensive to all Christians.

It is somewhat distressing to recall that three years ago every single newspaper in Great Britain had refrained from publishing the Danish cartoons on Muhammad in a grotesque display of cowardice and appeasement. Religion rarely deserves the respect it asks of non-believers or the reverence it demands from believers. However when ridicule is directed at one particular religion while simultaneously ensuring that it provokes the least amount of backlash it becomes difficult to applaud.